1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to parachutes and in particular to reserve parachutes.
2. Description of Related Art
Where a parachute is used to support a person, a reserve parachute is provided for use in the event that the main parachute does not deploy or does not deploy successfully. In general, where a reserve parachute is deployed, it is essential that the reserve parachute deploys very quickly. This is particularly true where the main parachute is being used for low level dropping.
There are a number of factors that mitigate against the rapid and successful opening of a reserve parachute in these circumstances. First, a pilot parachute cannot be used to promote rapid deployment of the reserve parachute as such pilot parachutes tend to fly up inside the malfunctioning main parachute causing a persisting entanglement between the reserve parachute and the main parachute. Secondly, the air flow regime in such circumstances may not be conducive to rapid deployment of the reserve parachute.